Now's the Time: Jazz for Joplin

As more than one area vocalist has been disappointed to discover, I don't care for straightforward jazz crooning.  It's not surprising, consequently, that I'm not a fan of Ken Rosberg's genteel vocals on Just Follow Your Heart.  I'm setting aside my personal preferences to highlight the new album that benefits the related Jazz for Joplin organization.  Rosberg is backed by saxophonist David Chael, guitarist Danny Embrey, pianist Mark Lowrey, bassist Gerald Spaits and drummer Zack Albetta on the project.  That's heady company for a man known as "Mr. Cedar Creek".  Rosberg's singing may be sampled here.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Black House Improvisors' Collective's May 18 collaboration with Gamelan Genta Kasturi is available as a free download.  Hunter Long notates the performance.  Phonologotron provides accompanying footage.

*The Kansas City Memorial Juneteenth Jazz & Arts Festival is Saturday, June 9, at the Kansas City Blues & Jazz Juke House.

*KCJazzLark photographed Thursday's performance by the KC Sound Collective.

*A critic for the Guardian compares Krystle Warren to Nina Simone in a rapturous review of a live performance.

*Actress Janet Carroll has died.  The native of the Kansas City area was also a jazz vocalist.

*Chris Hazelton's recent performance at Take Five Coffee was documented.

*Here's a slide show of Bob James' clinic at the recent festival bearing his name. 

*Pat Metheny has issued an official  preview of his new album.

*Addison Frei, a native of Lawrence, Kansas, won the Jacksonville (Fla.) Jazz Piano Competition.  (Link via KC Stage Blog.)

*The Star offers a review of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's concert at Crossroads KC.

*The Chevy Music Showcase is featuring eight area acts in an ambitious publicity campaign.  None are jazz bands.

*Tweet o' the Week: kctrumpeter- Diverse goes PUNK this Wednesday at Club Mustache. #diverted

*Comment o' the Week: Darren- Why won't the TJW book something for us, "The Occupy Wall Street crowd of far left zealots"  Note to self: Maybe if I got a job, saved some money and took some personal responsibility I could finance a concert season of my taste and maybe even network with other people who had jobs, saved some money and took personal responsibility who would get on board and underwrite a portion of the series.  Naaaa, I'll hang out at Harlings and the Record Bar for a couple more decades, that makes a lot more cents!

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Dr. Watson, I Presume?

Tens of thousands of people heard Bobby Watson perform as a featured guest artist at Sunday's Celebration at the Station.  Thousands more will take in the public television broadcast. 

It was a nice showcase for Watson, a man who's mentioned at Plastic Sax almost every week but isn't necessarily known among the general public.  Yet not everyone present on the expanse between Union Station and Liberty Memorial was prepared to recognize greatness. 

"Bring on the fireworks!" a yahoo sitting near me shouted as Watson interpreted "Amazing Grace."  Watson also played "America the Beautiful."  For those situated several hundred yards from the stage, the concert was more of a rumor than a proper listening experience.

I applaud the Kansas City Symphony for featuring Watson on Sunday and in its pops series next February.   It'd be great for both the Symphony and for the city's jazz scene if it included a locally-based jazz artist at every Memorial Day concert.   As I was surrounded by people who refused to STFU as the Symphony performed, I  speculated about other locally-based jazz artists who might take Watson's place next year.  Ideal candidates will have the capacity to sight-read, possess a track record of artistic innovation and know how to connect to a large audience.

I'd encourage Frank Byrne or Michael Stern to consider hiring any one of the past three recipients of the prestigious and coveted "Plastic Sax Person of the Year" designation.  Jeff Harshbarger, Mark Lowrey or Hermon Mehari would almost certainly excel in a Memorial Day collaboration with the Symphony.  Readers are welcome to make additional suggestions.

(Original image of Bobby Watson performing at the Celebration at the Station by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Deborah Brown

I'm tempted to pay the $25 cover charge Saturday at the Blue Room just so I can verify the existence of Deborah Brown's new album All Too Soon.  A CD copy comes with the price of admission.  The elusive album, apparently recorded in the past year with Dutch bandleader Eric Ineke, has assumed the status of a mythical object in my mind.  It's not mentioned at the sites of Brown or Ineke and it's not listed at Amazon, iTunes or Spotify.  A Dutch jazz blog and Joe Klopus' latest column are two of the few places in the world to acknowledge the project.  The Kansas City-based Brown merits better representation.  As I noted in a review of a 2011 concert at the Gem Theater, she's one of the world's elite jazz vocalists.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*A saxophone once owned by Charlie Parker will be auctioned June 8. The instrument is "expected to sell for $30,000-$35,000."

*Here's a slideshow commemorating the life of the late Bill Caldwell.

*The Topeka Jazz Workshop has unveiled its 2012-13 season. Highlights include Byron Stripling, Marilyn Maye, Harry Allen and Wycliffe Gordon. Chuck Berg reviewed Sunday's performance by the Kenny Barron Trio in Topeka, the final concert of the 2011-12 season.

*Passport, the duo of Beau Bledsoe and Stan Kessler, is releasing an album. Here's the trailer.

*The new release by the Chris Hazelton Trio is reviewed by KCJazzLark.

*Michael Pagan is profiled by Eric Crump of the Marshall News.

*Bobby Watson is among the Kansas City Symphony's guests at Celebration at the Station on May 27.

*A set of videos documents a Brothers Leifer performance at Take Five Coffee. Check 'em out here, here, here and here.

*Here's footage of Diverse performing at the Middle of the Map festival.

*TJ Martley filmed his piano trio from an odd angle.

*Roger Lewis of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band is interviewed by The Pitch in advance of his band's concert Thursday at Crossroads KC.

*Chris Lewis of Killer Strayhorn blogs at his band's site. He recently reviewed the new ECM release by the Marcin Wasilewski Trio.

*Glenn North provides insights on the history of cakewalking.

*I heard a DJ spin vinyl versions of tracks by Duke Ellington and Eric Dolphy at last weekend's Psychfest. The festival, which featured about fifty acts, was precisely the sort of enthusiasm-driven, forward-thinking event I recently proposed for Kansas City's jazz scene.

*Phonologotronic comments on his recent activity.

*The entertainment at the 2012 edition of Jazzoo includes an R&B band, a hip hop act, a Jimmy Buffet tribute band and Ida McBeth.

*Miles Bonny and Brandon Draper discuss Kansas City Academy's Grassroots Concert Series with Sam Wisman. (Via KC Stage Blog.)

*A fan uploaded ten minutes of shaky footage of last weekend's Ramsey Lewis concert at the Gem Theater.

*Tweet o' the Week: EldarMusic- New Yorkers! Come out to Blue Note: MAY 20- ELDAR + guest CHRIS POTTER MAY 22- ELDAR + guest KARRIN ALLYSON MAY 23- ELDAR + guest JOE LOCKE

*Comment o' the Week: Clint Ashlock- There were a bunch of things going on Sunday night, and I think you can look at it in a different perspective - that over half of the crowd were musicians shows how much respect these five guys have. There's another show Thursday night at the Blue Room if you happened to miss the Record Bar hit.

*From Lisa Engelken: Extraordinary singer, songwriter & arranger Lisa Engelken returns to Kansas City to perform at the Blue Room on Friday, June 22, 2012… Lisa is thrilled to Kansas City after last Summer’s sold-out performances, and to be joined once again by the powerhouse combo that includes Kansas City’s own Roger Wilder on piano, Gerald Spaits on bass and trumpeter Stan Kessler. Rounding out the quintet is San Francisco drummer Matthew Swindells. The program includes the premiere new works from Lisa’s upcoming album Anima Explorations and selections from Engelken’s Caravan, named to the “Best of 2010” List by the Jazz Journalists Association. Engelken is a Kansas-born straight-shooter, known for a fearless stage presence that has garnered her comparisons to Evel Kneivel, Janis Joplin and a roaring Harley Davidson.

(Original image of Psychfest by Plastic Sax.)

Review: The KC Sound Collective at the RecordBar

 Perhaps the most radical aspect of the KC Sound Collective is the ensemble's conservative approach.  Consisting of five of Kansas City's most notable young jazz musicians, the band carefully hews to the hard bop tradition.  While each member excels at playing in less conventional contexts, the Collective elects stay within the familiar framework codified half a century ago. 

As I noted in my review of the band's debut performance last year, the band's brash sound is in the tradition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.  Only the electric keyboard played by Andrew Ouellette at the band's album release show Sunday at the RecordBar betrayed the formula.   About twenty people- over half of them prominent musicians- caught the quintet's first set. 

The lion's share of the soloing went to saxophonist Steve Lambert, trumpeter Hermon Mehari and Oulette, but the excellent work of bassist Dominique Sanders and drummer Brad Williams represent much of the Collective's appeal.  Sanders is also the composer of the band's most striking composition.  The freeform opening of one of his pieces reminds me of vintage Pharaoh Sanders. 

I have yet to hear it, but the Collective's new album In the Moment almost certainly documents the compositional talent of Sanders and his bandmates.  It'll be available when the band performs Thursday, May 24, at the Blue Room.  An appearance by the Collective at the venue, incidentally, was my my favorite jazz gig of 2011.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Arrington de Dionyso and Thollem McDonas

Arrington de Dionsyo and Thollem McDonas will perform their "songs of psychic fire" at Grunauer's performance space on Thursday, May 24. It's unlikely the event will resemble the embedded video. This is probably more representative of what will transpire at Grunauer. Last year the pair issued a fascinating album that was "recorded to blue plastic plates using a Wilcox Gay record lathe from the 1940's." Ten Thousand Tigers is the duo's latest release. Snuff Jazz will also be on hand Thursday.